A Note From Layton | Early July at Quail Hill Farm
July 5, 2024
By Layton Guenther
Not one season on any farm is the same, and this year is no exception. This year, heavy rains in the spring stunted our first round of field crops, and regular rains thereafter have precluded our need to irrigate as often as needed in recent years. While certain small-seeded crops (like carrots, cilantro and dill) have struggled with the rains, our fruiting crops (peppers, eggplant and tomatoes) and potatoes have been loving all of the extra precipitation and are sizing up nicely.
One field in which the compaction from heavy rains is quite evident is our 2024 Flower Block - aka Block 2. While some of the later-planted flowers are sizing up well before blossoming, many of the early flowers (nasturtiums, bachelors buttons e.g.) are quite stunted. I’m sure they’ll bounce back.
Thank you to all who joined us for a lovely Coffee & Community event a few weeks back – we enjoyed a panoply of homemade baked goods, fruit salad and hot coffee from Jack’s. Several of our members (in the 5-and-under age bracket, largely) enjoyed running through the “sprinklers” (aka irrigation running nearby), and I, personally, really enjoyed seeing and catching up with so many of you! Special shout-out to Jane W. and Kathy M. for spearheading this event, and we hope to do it again in the fall!
Take care, and see you in the fields,
Layton
Layton Guenther
Director, Quail Hill Farm
LGuenther@PeconicLandTrust.org